Optical communication systems including optical amplifiers and amplification methods

Optical systems of the present invention includes power sources that provide dedicated and shared power to a plurality of optical amplification sections. In various embodiments, multiple optical pump sources are provided the include a plurality of optical sources, which supply dedicated optical pump power and shared optical pump power to two or more optical amplification sections. In other embodiments, remote dispersion compensation is performed and Raman amplification is provided to overcome at least a portion of the loss.